The signal button is used to show you the signal level of the channel you are currently watching. Its very very very useful when trying to setup an off air antenna to pickup local ATSC channels (digital stations). Its also somewhat useful for D* channels as well especially when the weather is bad. At least you get to see whats going on on your particular channel of preference. I think it was a BAD decision to choose this as one of the features to strip off the Hughes.

I did a 15 minute review of the HTL-HD manual. Here's what I've determined:

1) No RF remote option
2) No signal button - D* signal strength can still be viewed on the Signal Strength page of the Menu. However local ATSC channel signal strength CANNOT be seen at all! This is BAD!!
3) No format button on remote - Like the LSS-3200A the format can only be set on the front panel.
4) Front panel up/down/left/right cursor controls are not positioned in a user friendly manner. They are in a straight line. It will be frustrating to use these from the front panel.
5) When direct keying in channel numbers on the remote the ENTER (or SELECT) button is located too far above the 0-9 keys. Ridiculous.

If there's one positive note its that the Hughes remote seems to support more TV, DVD, Receiver, etc... models than the HD300. My Carver tuner/preamp won't work with the HD300 remote, it only supports two Carver codes and neither work mine..... However the Hughes remote has several more Carver codes and probably one of them will work........

I do wonder if its possible to use a Universal remote and get the Signal and Format optiosn to work?? I suspect not, I vaguely remember people trying to replicate the HD200 FORMAT button on the SAT520 using a Pronto and I don't think anyone had any success. LG probably locked it out in firmware...

Last thing, when reviewing the HTL-HD Troubleshooting section of the manual it refers to a Signal button on the remote. I think LG forgot to proof read this section??

Removing the Signal button is a BAD idea. Its used for troubleshooting transponder issues as well as setting up the ATSC antenna. Why LG/Hughes wants to make customers lives difficult in the event they need to troubleshoot, is beyond me!

I think the problem is that they were hunting for things to remove on the Hughes. I'm told that D* dictates many of the features required so there's little LG can do to play with many of the other features of the box. I'm sure there's some things they can adjust or change like the timeout setting for the INFO page. Maybe they should have hard set the Hughes to 10 seconds only while the HD300 can be set to 5 or 10 seconds.....Just a thought!

Another thing they couldhave considered is to remove the feature that shows artist/song titles on the front panel display when on music channels. This is a nice TOY but not required! User can always turn on their TV for info on the song.....

Quote:

Originally posted by blackmax2k1HD_JUNKIE,

Remember this box is $200 less than the Zenith/LG or Sony. It shouldn't have all the same features. The inside is the same which matters the most to me. I'll take the money.

I would recommend most users select eithr the Sony or LG simply because of the lack of the SIGNAL button. Anyone who lives in a tough reception zone wil tell you how helpful that meter is. The $200 extra for the box is certainly cheaper than the hair transplant you'll need after fighting to setup a single antenna to pickup multiple ATSC stations and keep them tuned in reliably.

Originally posted by HD_JUNKIEIf you go into the Signal Strength menu the D* transponder strength is an Audible and Visual tuner. However, OTA stations cannot be tuned on this page. This is what I'm referring to......

For me, not having the ability to "see/hear" just WHAT kind of signal the STB is receiving would be bad. I'm in a location that gets OTA reception from multiple directions (NYC/PHILLY/TRENTON) and NOT knowing where my rooftop is facing is a bad thing (I have a CM9521A rotor on both TV's....yet the rotor seems to "lose" it's correct bearing on the digital readout screen quite often).

I'm out on this STB if this feature isn't there...in addition to no one line guide. But, that's just me.... :mad:

Originally posted by sangsOK, granted I came late to the party here, but I wanted to take a look at this STB just to compare since I don't need another one yet.

But the link Ken H provided takes me to the Hughes box on the CC website, but the price is $549. That's a lot higher than you guys have been discussing. Did they decide to jack up the price overnight?

Yes, it would appear CC jacked up the price almost $200 overnight. IMO the lack of a OTA signal meter and no RF remote makes this a terrible deal at $549. Good thing I ordered mine yesterday at $369 :D And, according to CC, it shipped yesterday and should arrive Monday.

Changed the price overnight, indeed! I got home late from a meeting last night, watched West Wing on Bravo, and then said, what the hell, go ahead and order the thing, order completed from CC at 3:36 am EST, price $369. It's coming one day ship, so I should get it on Friday. Funny, I couldn't add the 3 years extended warranty to the cart, so I am winging it with the standard one.
I own a Sports Bar, so I don't need all the features. I might end up with 6 or 7 or these in the next few years, to replace my standard reveivers. But this is what a lot of people need, a 4th generation unit at a price point that allows us to put one in the bedroom or den. What would be great is if the HTLHD stayed at $369 and the E86 dropped to $199, so put one in the kids room too.
This whole episode has been ass backwards, with one retailer selling a unit at a low price, no documentation from the manufacturer's site, even CC had no specs for a couple of days.
Who is going to buy one of these now, at the same price as Sony, LG, or Samsung, with no documentation? Thanks to Chiliman for posting the Orbisat link yesterday to the Owners Manual as a PDF.
I should have bought 2!!!

Originally posted by HD_JUNKIERemoving the Signal button is a BAD idea. Its used for troubleshooting transponder issues as well as setting up the ATSC antenna. Why LG/Hughes wants to make customers lives difficult in the event they need to troubleshoot, is beyond me!

I agree. As I was reading about this, I was seriously considering buying two of these (to replace by hot DST-3000 and old non-APG DCT-100). But right now, an OTA signal monitor is a necessity on Long Island.

I'm actually glad that they raised the price on these. It makes them less tempting.

I just got my HTLHD yesterday at the $369 free shipping price. I had the Sony HD300 home for a week about three weeks ago but returned it. The Sony was intended for our upstairs TV that the whole family uses. My daughter and wife hated the user interface compared to our four year old Sony B-50 so back it went.

When I saw the postings on the HTLHD on the forum last week, I decided to give it a try since the price was so attractive. Now that I have it, it is basically the same functionality wise as the HD300. I am going to try it out in place of my RCA DTC-100 in my downstairs main rig. The user interface is not much of an issue there as I am the one that runs the system in my main rig and I only watch HD on it.

Too bad about the price increase! I bought it when I did because the price was so much less than the HD300 that it did not seem like it could last. The HTLHD is not as nice looking as the HD300 (a Platinum cast to my eyes, not silver at all), but I can hide the units appearance. The remote is not an issue as I would transfer it to my HTM 700. Except for the lack of an RF remote, which I would not use, the back panel of the HTLHD is the same as the HD300. The warranty is not great, but I like the Circuit City protection plans anyway, so $30 for three years is cheap. At $370 vs $570 for the HD300, the minor omissions of the HTLHD were easily forgiven in my book. At $370, it was $30 cheaper than the Directv HD promotion price. It was also $130 cheaper than my local Circuit City's price on the E-86 which they have four of in stock. At $550, I would pass on this unit as well as the HD300. Maybe when CC has sold out of their E-86s, the pricing will come back down.

I just got off the phone with hughes. I cannot believe they left out a digital signal meter. I might as well try voom for a couple hundred dollars more (it doesn't have a signal meter either). What a bummer.

Originally posted by bhambradI just got off the phone with hughes. I cannot believe they left out a digital signal meter. I might as well try voom for a couple hunfred dollars more (it doesn't have a signal meter either). What a bummer.

Wow, so it is definitely confirmed.

Man,everyone who buys one of these should just plug an antenna in and when it doesn't pick up the channels, call hughes support and ask why!

Seriously, how are you supposed to aim your antenna. I am in a good reception area, but even a couple degree change in antenna direction loses a channel or two.

I suppose, since I am looking for a second box, it is not that big a deal. But wow, I am kind of shocked that feature would be dropped.

Man,everyone who buys one of these should just plug an antenna in and when it doesn't pick up the channels, call hughes support and ask why!

Seriously, how are you supposed to aim your antenna. I am in a good reception area, but even a couple degree change in antenna direction loses a channel or two.

I suppose, since I am looking for a second box, it is not that big a deal, but wow, I am kind of shocked that would be dropped.

I told them this and I got an answer like - you don't need that and the one on the e86 wasn't accurate and I was like - yes it is.

This is a great STB with the exception of the color. It is a platinum look not silver. I may just get another sony hd300 or wait for the hd tivo. I have to have some sort of signal meter - its a deal breaker for me.